Denial
by canyoukeepasecret14
Summary: First stab at Swatello/Jared. This NEEDS TO HAPPEN, so I'm making it happen. Lots of flashbacks to some fun encounters and awkward/cute/funny scenarios now. I might make some sexy ones too, I haven't decided yet. Remember, M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Don't own anything (just the ideas and the story.) I felt compelled to write this due to the lack of Jatello (is this name really happening?) fictions. I need this. As always, leave your comments. This is my first stab at the dynamic. Also first try with F&B. Hope you guys like it!_

_Is MA rating too much for this? Should I just leave it M? I'm always bad at this. Updates, as always, when I feel like it, and if I feel compelled to write again :)_

* * *

It was a morning like any other. He woke up in dripping in sweat, wondering why his alarm went off at the exact worst time. He wanted the dream to finish so badly. He closed his eyes and went over the dream again in his head. It was still vivid. He was on top of Ellen, making her call out his name. She was stunning and she was all his. As he was lying on his back, replaying every bit of what could only be considered a bad tease by his subconscious, he heard a soft moan from the other side of the bed.

'Hey,' he heard.

'Hey,' he looked at the gorgeous brunette lying next to him in bed. She was about 21-22 years old. Long wavy hair, big blue eyes, and a pretty face. He vaguely remembered her having a gorgeous body too.

This wasn't the first time he woke up next to a stage, hot woman, but it bothered the hell out of him that he didn't remember how she got there. He had to think back to what happened. He remembered the party from last night. There was alcohol. He was drinking… probably too much. He was texting Ellen, like always when he got too drunk. And then… He remembered Peter taking his phone, but he couldn't quite figure out what he did with it. Then he remembered bits and pieces. He could recall yelling at Peter for some reason or another. Then he remembered lots of making out… with this girl… Ashley… no Alyssa? Maybe Allison. And then he remembered even less about the actual sex. He made a small prayer that his or her drunken consciousness remembered to use protection.

'I'm going to take a shower,' said the girl, throwing a sexy smile his way. She leaned over for a quick kiss, when, to both of their surprise, he pulled away.

'.. and I'll get out of your way.'

The expression on the girl's face turned to something that he can only decipher as a mix of anger and disappointment. But he couldn't bring himself to care.

'Bathroom's through that door. Clean towels in the basket on the shelf,' he forced a smile.

His next thought immediately went to his phone. God… What did he text her? He definitely needs to do some damage control.

He went to Peter's door and started knocking like it was the end of the world. He could hear Peter murmur a swearword or two, as he poked his head out the door.

'Dude, I need my phone back,' he said with an expressionless face.

'We are kind of in the middle of something here…'

'We?'

'You aren't the only one who had fun last night,' said the tall lawyer with a huge grin on his face.

'Oh… about that. We need to leave soon.'

'Can you give us like 20 more minute?'

'We have to be at work in like…' Jared looked at his watch. 'An hour ago.'

'So, what you're saying is… 20 more minutes couldn't hurt?'

'We have a meeting with the internet-thief guy in like half hour.'

'Shoot. Alright. I'll be out in a sec...' Peter pulled his head back, and closed the door.

Jared knocked again.

'In the freezer' yelled Peter from the other side of the door.

'Of course,' Jared nodded with a sigh, like it this was the most natural thing in the world.

He went to the freezer and took his phone out from behind a bottle of top shelf vodka. To his surprise it was still working, and holy shit 7 missed calls and 10 texts…. And all from a Miss Swatello.

His heart was beating fast. He was nervous to see how the conversation actually went. Whatever went down, she definitely didn't consider the conversation over, when Peter took his phone.

He scrolled back to his first text of the night, and started reading.

'_Get your sexy ass here.'_

_'Why? You miss my sexy ass?'_

_'I didn't say that… But yes.'_

_'LOL why am I not surprised?'_

_'So are you coming or what?'_

_'Some of us want to get in the office on time tomorrow morning.'_

'_LAME'_

_'Plus I'm on a date'_

His heart sunk for a second. Usually when he gets this drunk she indulges him. She would flirt, and one time she even went so far as sexting him. He often wondered if it was because she really meant every dirty word she said, or because she was just amusing herself with how much power she has over him. But she never ever told him about other guys. Ever. Not through text, not in the office, not on the rare occasions she would come to the beach house to discuss a case…

_'oh. Have fun.'_

Phew… He thought… then he noticed four more of his texts following as he felt his initial unease return.

'_but just so you know, you probably won't.'_

_'and he's probably boring'_

_'and he sucks in bed'_

_'and he has a small penis'_

Classy… he thought to himself as he scrolled down to see her response.

_'Classy'_

He smiled thinking about how his sober reaction was the same as hers.

'_you should stikl come over'_

_'ilkjl enterntaiaan you bteer than small penis guy'_

He noticed the 15 minutes time difference between the two texts.

_'1. You need a copy of the employee conduct manual asap_  
_2. You need to stop drinking._

_When you're too incoherent for autocorrect, it's time to stop.'_

_'mmmmmmmmmmmm you'_

_'kresj but idknj if icanj go. Idonthwanna sleep iwth strsnge giiirl.'_

_'just thrrewup innn the closioeitlk'_

_'STOP DRINKING!'_

_'missssssssssssssss jouojioiii'_

This was getting embarrassing even for him. Then he noticed his texts stopped. This is probably when (thankfully) Peter stepped in. He then started reading the messages he didn't get to last night.

First text came at 10:30 p.m. (he hasn't even realized how soon he blacked out): '_Jared. Please. Stop. Drinking.'_

That was probably the first time he saw her call him by his name. It's usually "you" with her, and pointing fingers. To be honest, deep down he was kind of worried that she, not unlike many others, had no idea who which one of them was Franklin and which one was Bash.

_11:02 'Are you still there?'_

_11:28 'Just answer your phone'_

_11:51 'Can you call me back when you get this?'_

_1:03 'Or just shoot me a text so I know you're alive.'_

_1:04 'Not that I care_'

He smiled at this.

_1:58 'By the way, you were right about this guy.'_

His brain immediately jumped to the small penis part.

_2:00 'I meant about the boring part, not the sex.'_

His mind was now filled with images of Ellen and this random guy, who in his head looked something like Hugh Grant… He shook his head and read the last text.

_2:01 'I haven't had an orgasm with another person in six months.'_

His head was filled with new information he wasn't alert enough to process, and it didn't help that Peter just got out of his room ready for the day. He quickly changed into a clean shirt, tie and pants, while trying to process all of this information. First of all he owed Ellen an apology. Or explanation. Or something. That was much drunker than usual.

Then her date. Why did she tell him she had a date? She kept her personal life private, since they've known each other. He frequently asked, and she always told him it was none of his business.

Then there was her concern. And phone calls. And it seemed like she was actually worried about him. Like genuinely. This thought, however, sounded implausible. She probably just wanted to make sure there was still someone signing her paycheck, and he didn't die.

Then the last three texts. What was she trying to say? She was definitely drinking too. She would never have willingly shared that information with him. Then his mind immediately jumped to the last time they slept together. Exactly six months ago. He cursed himself for remembering the date, but he inadvertently wondered if he was the last person to make her cum.

* * *

She was so hot that night. He went over to her place to celebrate her taking the job at Infeld Daniels. And she was waiting for him, wearing just a robe. He remembered walking in, seeing her and not knowing what to do or say. Her robe was silk and, as he started walking over toward her, she dropped it to the ground. She stood there butt naked.

Some women are extremely self-conscious but Ellen Swatello wasn't one of them. She knew exactly what effect she had on him, and she enjoyed him looking at her with hungry eyes. He knew she got a kick out of driving him crazy. He was just looking at her, every inch of her body, mesmerized, until he saw her taking a step closer and felt her hands on his waist, moving forward to unbutton his pants. He still stood there, motionless, like a schoolboy just about to lose his virginity, when he realized how hard he was. By the time he gained any consciousness after hearing his pants and boxers fall to his feet, his head started spinning again. Her hands were stroking him slowly teasing, as she held eye contact. He knew this was no romantic gesture, she was just trying to show him who was the boss, but he didn't mind. At all. He had to take deep breaths to stop himself from cumming right then and there, when he saw her drop to her knees. This was very new to him, she never actually done that before, but before he could read too much into it, he felt her breath on his shaft, and her hands cupping his balls. He closed his eyes, as she teased him before taking him in her mouth. God she felt so good, and she could hold a steady rhythm.

He had to stop her if he didn't want to finish right then. He tried clearing his mind, only keeping one thought – he needed to satisfy her. She was putting up a great façade, but he felt her shiver as he laid one hand on her back and moved it slowly up. He knew she needed this – him, as much as he needed her. Whatever else she said. He pulled her gently up to his lips. She made a face, which he could only read as "really? After where my mouth has been?" He let out an 'I don't care' and kissed her with repressed passion and feelings he couldn't quite place at the time. She was returning his kisses with the same fire and enthusiasm as he quickly unbuttoned his shirts and tossed it aside. He then managed to kick off his shoes and the boxers-pants combo from his feet, and let out a groan as he felt her hands wonder from the back of his head to his aching erection.

'No, it's my turn,' he smirked, as he pushed her against her living room wall and started playing with her breast with one hand and cupping her face with the other. He pulled back to look at her again, and he saw his hunger reflected in her eyes, with an eagerness to give up control that he hasn't seen in her before. She was actually letting him take charge and do what he wanted to her. This was new. Very new. As he started kissing down her neck, working his way towards her nipples, she let out a moan that he never heard her make before. He was going wild, but he knew he had something to do before the main act. He replaced his hand on her breast with his lips and tongue, and moved his other hand down to the wetness between her legs. He could feel that she was as ready for him as he was for her, but he knew this wasn't enough. He teased her clit for a while, after which he slid one finger into her slit. He could feel how much her body craved this, so he immediately switched to two finger, his lips never leaving her nipple. Then he kissed her stomach, making his way down to her center. He wanted to taste her so badly. He reached down and lifted her left leg and placed it on his shoulder as he started kissing the inside of her folds. He then started using more and more tongue. She was moaning and trembling on him, while pulling his hair with one hand and her own with the other, but he knew he had to make her cum before the sex. She was so close. He could feel it.

All of the sudden, she swung her leg down, leaving him really confused. She looked at him with irritation in her eyes.

'I swear to God, if you don't fuck me right now, I am going to kill you.'

He needed no further encouragement to abandon his original plan. He lifted both her legs, as he found her slit, and pushed into her. He wasn't gentle. He knew she didn't want him to be. Then, as if something possessed both of them, they caught a rhythm that felt humanly impossible. He could feel the urgency in her body mirrored in his. He kept pushing, with her back still against the wall, harder and faster each time. He wanted to hold off, but he could hear her moaning as her body suddenly went stiff and her orgasm took him with her over the edge on his final thrust. As they both calmed down he looked her in the eyes again, and he felt compelled by some inexplicable force to kiss her. And she kissed him back. Slowly. Almost tender. They looked at each other one more time before she went into the shower. He remembered following her 10 minutes later….

* * *

He just realized that Peter pulled the car into the garage by the office. How did they get here? Did he really just daydream about Swatello the whole ride there?

On the elevator ride up to the office, he was still wondering if he should play it cool, like nothing major happened, or ignore the situation altogether… or confront Ellen. All these options had their appeal…

As the elevator door opened, he knew he had to make a decision soon.

* * *

_AN: Watch the show guys! Let's not let this get cancelled!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So if you're up to date on the show, I noticed that in ep season 4 episode 3, when Jared was making the naked joke at the beginning he said "I was joking... because, you know, we're sleeping together." So despite the looking like she wanted to keep it professional in the season premier they started hooking up again? In any case, this puts my story somewhere between episode 1 and 3 of season 4. _

_I still don't own anything, besides the story. I used some actual lines from season 3 - credit be given to whoever wrote them, to build my story on it. _

_As always, thanks for reading :) _

"You're ignoring me," said Jared moving a step closer to Ellen, who was doing her best not to look at him.

"Not more so than usual" she said not looking up from arranging the papers on her desk.

"I'd say yes," said Jared. "So you care about me," he added with a wide grin.

"I don't know where you're getting that nonsense from, but I don't have time for it," she finally looked up at him. "I'm late."

"For?"

"None of your business."

"Is it another date with mister boring?"

She let out an annoyed sigh.

"Hey you said I was right." He pointed at her, then lowered his voice and moved around her desk to catch her eyes. "You also said you didn't have an orgasm with another person in six months… By my count that's about the time we had sex last." She held eye contact and took a step closer to him.

She leaned in, and brought her lips to his ears.

"Don't flatter yourself."

He could smell her scent, and he could feel her linger after her remark. He knew, under normal circumstances, she would just say her thing and pull back… but she was still there. And her proximity was making him insane with desire.

Before he realized, his arms swung around her waist, landing on her butt. He pulled her closer as he planted a soft kiss on her jaw, then a more passionate one on her neck.

He could feel her stiffness completely disappear and her body melting into him. She let out a soft moan as he began to explore more of her neck.

He completely lost control of the situation, moving his hands all over her body, kissing every bit of exposed skin he could find. She didn't seem to refrain him one bit, on the contrary: her hands dug into his hair, moaning louder each time his lips touched her skin. What finally snapped him out of it was Peter's voice, who apparently walked into Ellen's office some time ago.

"Not that I mind the PDA, but if you guys really want to do this, it might be smarter to get a room. You know, half your wall is made of glass, and there are two summer associates are super excited to see when you get to the good stuff," Jared took a step back, collecting his thoughts.

"She started it!" he pointed at Ellen.

"Yeah, right," she seemed unbelievably calm and collected, considering that Jared was still trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, you were begging me to do you," said Jared with the most serious voice.

Ellen turned towards Peter: "Do I look like I would beg him to do anything?"

Peter put on the most serious face he could: "No, you do not."

"See?" said Ellen as she flashed a smile at Jared. "Now get out of my office. I need to work."

"I thought you were going somewhere. Didn't you just say you were late?" asked Jared.

"It's a Skype appointment with a potential client."

"Oooh, look at you Swato, bringing in new clients to the firm. Good job!" said Peter, excited about the news.

"Thanks. Now shoo. Both of you," she gestured towards the door, and as she took a seat at her desk.

As they walked out of the office Jared looked at Peter with disapproving eyes.

"Did you really have to cockblock me?"

"Hey, dude, you know I fully support your sex life, but besides the fact that this is unethical, which never really bothered us to begin with, the two associates were recording you two on their phones. Now, with all the crisis communication we're doing after Stanton's reinstatement, and the firm's massive client-loss, I really don't want to explain to the press why two partners are going at it in broad daylight during work hours."

"Fair enough," nodded Jared.

"So she's still giving you nothing?" asked Peter sympathetically.

"Nada since she started working here. What you saw is the most we've done in six months."

"I'm sorry buddy."

"Yeah, next time, maybe just take away the kids' phones."

And immediately his mind jumped back to the first time he had sex with her.

…

He looked her taking a sip of wine. He couldn't tell if it was her making a genuine gesture of helping out in Peter's mom's case, or just the fact that he was a nice guy, but he couldn't just leave her without saying anything.

"Wanna talk about it?" she looked up saying yes with her eyes, but carefully weighing the situation.

"Not particularly. But if you want to sit down and have a drink, I couldn't do anything about it" She said with an apathetic voice. He took that as a yes. And a few drinks with her couldn't possibly be that bad.

He ordered a shot of whiskey.

"You know this doesn't mean we're friends," she finished her glass and asked for another bottle of Chardonnay.

"Of course not." He took his shot and asked for another one. He could tell this was going to be a long night, he might as well make it enjoyable. "Wow, an entire bottle? Look at you, Ellen."

"So you are here to criticize my drinking?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said as he downed his second shot. He ordered another one before he figured he should probably ask what's bothering her. "So how was your past year? It seems like we didn't see you at all in court."

"That's because you had good cases, and I was stuck prosecuting small town thieves… Then hookers."

"Well there's some fun in that." Said Jared not really know how to react.

"Yeah well it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds."

She went on a rant talking about her past cases. Some of them were hilariously disastrous, others just plain mundane. He could tell that she hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone about this, and she probably appreciated the company, even if she didn't say it. He wasn't drinking as much as he anticipated. It was shocking to realize that there was no one left at the restaurant besides the two of them. He was actually having a good time, and he wasn't even completely wasted.

"I mean, I joined this office to put away real felons, but then, for seven years, I get to watch lesser, ass-kissing attorneys move up while I get transferred to vice prosecuting hookers like your pal's mother?" She was slightly slurring her words, but her outrage made Jared smile. He couldn't help but make a wise-ass remark.

"Must be your sparkling personality."

He got a chuckle out of her as she finished her glass of wine. For the first time since he sat down, she wasn't talking as she looked at him, almost smiling. Looking back at her, he felt buzzed enough to say the first thing that popped into his head.

"You know, in this light, with your guard down... you almost look human."

Her smile dropped. "You're hitting on me."

Hell no… She is the last person on earth he would be hitting on. "All right, I am not hitting..." He paused. "Oh, my God. I'm hitting on you, aren't I?"

Maybe he was drunker than he thought. Or maybe he had a thing for sadistic, borderline psychotic women. In any case he wasn't expecting what she said next.

"You know what? After the day I've had... the year..." She put her papers away and looked a Jared. "Let's go."

"You're kidding." He was still in shock. How could this be happening?

"You got a problem with hate sex?" She looked him directly in the eyes. She was hot. She always has been. And was the prosecuting D.A. on his current case. And there was something about her that he just couldn't stand. But there was something, much, much stronger that was screaming inside his head, telling him to take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Without missing a heartbeat, he learned forward, resting his hands on her thighs, he immediately leaned in for the kiss. And this wasn't any sort of romantic kiss. It was something else.

He knew her for so long, and part of him always hated her. The other part of him, the repressed part, just really wanted to do her in the back of a bar, or in the backseat of his car, or on the beach late at night, once everyone has left. These were always fleeting thoughts, and he wrote it off to her being a pretty sexy woman, and him not getting much action at the time. But the hate was fueling the passion much more than he anticipated. Kissing her was much hotter than he ever dreamed of. And with each kiss he felt his hunger rise. She was not stopping him, on the contrary - she pulled him closer. She was still sitting at the bar, but he was standing. She spread her legs and he positioned his body in between them, so that she could feel his excitement against her.

God, it was just so hot, he could barely control himself.

"Guys sorry, but we're about to close up. And if you are planning on doing that, I suggest you get a room somewhere."

The bartender's voice seemed to snap them out of it. She looked at him with a black face.

"He'll be paying for everything I had tonight."

Jared looked at her with a confused expression. Then he decided to let it go. "Of course. Can we get the check?"

He looked at the bill - it came up to 189 dollars.

"Wow. You're one expensive date."

"Who said anything about a date?" she looked at him questioning. "Now hurry up before I change my mind."

"Alright. Here, keep the change."

He dropped 250 dollars on the bar and looked at her with excitement in his eyes.

"Who carries around that much cash?" she looked at him with judgment in her voice.

"Who orders two $70 bottle of wines?" he teased back.

She then jumped on him, continuing exactly where they left off.

"Thanks, but you guys really need to leave," she got off the barstool, and moved towards the door. He could tell by the way she was walking that she was somewhat under the influence, but he wasn't sure exactly how much.

"Let's take a cab," he ran after her.

"Yeah that was my plan," she said looking at him. "Oh, and you don't have to worry about me being too drunk for this. This is a really poor judgment on my end, but it's not because of the booze. I can hold my liquor." She then proceeded to lick her lips, while holding eye contact. Jared could feel his excitement grow, as he looked at her flagging a cab. He hurried to the cab, and as soon as he got in, sitting next to her, he lost control again. His hands were all over her and he could feel that she was starting to slowly take control. She was controlling the rhythm of the kisses and moving her body closer into his.

'Of course she would be bossy in bed,' he thought as he could feel her hand rubbing against his throbbing erection though the material of his pants.

He noticed the cab stop and the driver mutter the fare, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He took out a few 20s from his wallet not breaking the kiss and handed it over to the cabbie. He didn't seem to complain that it wasn't enough so Jared proceeded to open the door and walk out, still holding the kiss. She then took control over again. This was her apartment, her territory. She led him in, touching and kissing him along the way. As they reached her door, he kicked his shoes off, started undressing her, as she was unbuttoning his shirt.

He hasn't experienced passion like this in over a decade, probably since his sophomore year of college when he managed to score the hottest sorority girl. How the hell did Swatello have this effect on him?

She was enjoying her time too, as she moaned into their kisses.

"This can only happen one time."

He definitely didn't want to think about the future. The present was too good to let it slip away.

"Yeah, after tonight, we go back to hating each other."

"I still hate you right now." He wasn't surprised.

"Yeah, no, me, too." He wasn't sure if this was a lie or not, but the emotion he felt was definitely making the situation hotter.

She pulled him on top of him onto the bed. He her took bra off and his own shirt. This was really happening. He couldn't believe it. All the black and grey she wears in court, he never would have imagined what a gorgeous body she had. He pulled back just to look at her. He was mesmerized. After a few moments he saw annoyance on her face. But before he could react, she flipped them so now she was on top.

"You're wasting time. We're doing this my way."

He was about to open his mouth to respond with a witty remark but he stopped himself thinking this was neither the time nor place. He didn't even notice when he lost his boxers, but he realized he was completely nude and cold, when Ellen got off of him and walked out of the room.

"So that was it? Get me all worked up and leave? Wow, that's a new low even for…" and his words got stuck in his troth as he saw her walk back with a small black leather whip and two hardcore handcuffs – not the fluffy kind, but the ones cops use.

"Shit."

She smiled at him. He couldn't deny that he was slightly scared. He could see her killing him tonight, but something about the situation turned him on beyond anything he's ever experienced.

"Like I said. We're doing it my way." She quickly cuffed his hands to the bedpost before he could really object. She then took his tie off the ground and proceeded to blindfold him.

"Hey, I don't remember agreeing to this," said Jared with a smile on his face. He knew she could tell he was teasing.

"Well part of you definitely seems to enjoy this," she said giving him a hard stroke. "Your safe word is –I love you."

"What? Why?"

"It will turn me off enough to stop."

He couldn't see anymore. But he felt her breath on him. What followed was one of the hottest sexual experiences of his life. She was biting and slapping and spanking and licking and stroking and touching and breathing on all his body parts. He was so tuned on after what felt like hours of tortures, he didn't know how long he could hold out.

She finally took the tie of his eyes, and looked at him with the same hunger in her eyes he was feeling.

"I am going to take one of the handcuffs off. And you are going to make me scream." He wasn't sure if she wanted him to knock her out, or if she meant sex, but either way it was intriguing. Part of him felt a desire mixed with hate that wanted to punish her and make her feel all the pain she was giving him, and more.

Truth be told, he hasn't really had hate sex before. So as soon as she took off the handcuff, he grabbed her and pushed her down. He started biting her shoulder, going progressively harder at it. He could hear her moans – half in pain and half in pleasure. She then sunk her nails in his back and scratched as hard as she could. He could feel himself go crazy with desire, so he decided to act on it and he lifted himself and positioned himself near her entrance. With one hard thrust, he was inside her. She didn't expect him, and it make her scream out in surprise. He was experimenting with a slow rhythm at first. He pulled out slowly, almost completely, and pushed back in hard and fast. This rhythm was driving her crazy and he could tell. He started to speed it up and soon he felt like he had no control over what was happening. He didn't even care that the cuffs were burning his wrist. He poured all his repressed attraction as well as the conscious dislike of her into the following thrusts. He felt her go off the edge with a loud scream, and he couldn't hold back anymore. One last thrust and he groaned out as he collapsed on top of her."

….

"You're still thinking about Swatello?" Peter snapped him out of his daydream again.

"I can't help it. That woman drives me crazy."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: This will be a long ramble and it will mostly consist of me reacting to episode 5 of season 4, Deep Troth. I wrote this chapter before I saw the episode – thankfully – since watching the episode was a major buzzkill for this story. I'll write more, because technically both this, and my other fanfic -Friends of friends- happened before anything else (I want to keep somewhat consistent with the original story arc), but first I want to take a second to share my thoughts on the most recent episode. Now, if you want the story, I suggest you skip down until the horizontal line, otherwise, here are my thoughts._

_I love F&B. It is literally the only summer show that I am excited about every year. However, I never found a relationship that I could root for on the show. So when Ellen came in, even at the very first season, I could totally see her hooking up with Jared. And then the writers did it! So today's episode (SPOILER ALERT!) was somewhat of a letdown at first. Don't get me wrong I loved the case they worked on – I think it's actually one of the best ones they had this season so far. But the Jared-Ellen thing invoked a reaction of "That's it? We get 2 episodes of their banter and then you create the awkward ex scenario?" And yes, I know it's television, and yes I know that they'll probably get together at the end of the season in some form or way, but the short-lived nature of the office-naughty-turning-into-something-more-serious really pissed me off. At first. Then I re-watched the episode and I realized why I got so angry – it hit really close to home for me. It's super easy to miscommunicate nowadays. I've done it. Most of us have. We seem to be so scared and worried that someone will actually see how we feel that we deliberately act (Swatello) or say (Jared) the opposite. We are terrified of looking week, and we associate sharing emotions with losing. So, however hard it is, we need to learn to communicate with the people we care about. Otherwise, we might end up never knowing what could have been. PSA over, now read the story :)_

* * *

Derek sat in the conference room waiting for his lawyers. Jared and Peter sat down across from him, and listened intensely to his story.

"Listen guys. I wasn't stealing her internet. My computer connected to her router automatically. And if she didn't want me to use it, Mary should have put a password on her Wifi," said the guy.

"She did put a password. Which you managed to hack it. 42 times, according to her," Jared noted.

"Yeah… but I wouldn't call it hacking. I mean, it's internet. It's just waves in the air. It's not like I actually went and stole something from Mary – she would have paid the same amount if I used it or not," said Derek.

"The problem here is that she is suing you both for 'stealing' her internet, which she paid over 2 grand in the past 5 years, and also for invading her privacy. You know how computers can connect to all devices that use a network," said Peter looking at Derek.

"Guys, you gotta believe me, I didn't even access her computer. I respect her privacy," he pleaded.

"Alright, Derek, we'll take your case. You seem like a stand-up guy… Plus you're our favorite pizza boy… You're the only one who always picks up beer for us too," said Jared smiling as they walked out of the conference room.

"Thanks guys," Derek shook the boys' hands as he walked toward the elevator. "If you need anything else from me, you know where to find me."

"We'll call you tomorrow to let you know what our investigator finds out," said Peter as the elevator door closed. The two lawyers looked at each other. "This could be fun."

"I agree," said Jared. Then he had a fleeting thought. "I'm gonna go check on how Swatello's meeting went with her new client."

"Good luck, buddy!" Peter winked.

….

Jared walked into Ellen's office. She wasn't there. 'Probably out for lunch,' he thought to himself. Then again, that sounded implausible – she usually took her lunch at her desk. Whatever the case, Jared figured he should just wait in her office. For some reason, he couldn't get her out of his mind. Today more than any other day. He sat behind her desk – he figured she wouldn't mind. And if she did, he kind of liked annoying her a little. She's hot when she's angry, and that's always a turn-on.

As he sat down, he noticed that she didn't lock her computer. He couldn't resist the urge to maximize her browser and see what she was doing before she left. As soon as the browser opened his jaw fell. There it was, good, old fashioned, American, high-quality porn.

He could see her do a lot of things, but he never saw her as the type to watch porn at work. Now, he got really curious what the last video was that she watched… and there it was. A threesome between two built men and a skinny woman – in the office. His mind kept racing, thinking about how he can use all of this to his advantage. But before he could figure out what to do with the new information, he heard something that immediately snapped him out of it.

"So you like what you see?" Ellen walked closer, not breaking eye contact.

"I… It was just there… I'm… sorry? I think," He tried to avoid her gaze. "I mean, isn't this against the rules in the employee conduct manual?"

"It would be… But I was doing some research for my new client," she said as she took a few more steps in Jared's direction, who, over time, jumped up from her seat, an tried his best to stare at the floor.

"Your client is a porn actor?" He looked at her in disbelief.

"No… They were taped having sex with their boss, and the video hit the internet without their permission."

Jared felt silly thinking that she would actually watch porn at work. Then he realized something:

"Boss… as in singular?"

"Yes," she looked at him confused.

"So… just one guy?" he continued.

"Yes," she still wasn't sure what to make of his questions.

"You're watching a movie with two dudes and a chick," he said smiling at her.

She actually started smiling at his discovery. She took another step closer, and locked the distance between herself and Jared.

"Maybe I started off with watching her video, and then I decided to do some market research to see what other porn movies are out there with the same theme, and how this website operates," she said. Then she leaned in again, and started whispering in Jared's ear: "Or maybe I got so turned on by her video that I had to watch another one, which made me go to the bathroom to finish myself off."

He was already hard by the thought of her watching porn in the office. Knowing that she was horny as hell doing so, made him almost explode with desire. Then he heard something that was an instant turn-off.

"I found out how Mary knew Derek was using her internet," Dan's voice filled the room. Ellen took 3 steps back and sat at her desk, closing her browser. "She was actually spying on him. I have a friend who can hack into people's computers' and figure out what they've been up to going years back," Ellen and Jared looked at each other thinking the same thing.

"This isn't my case… Do you have to be here?" Ellen looked at Dan.

"It looks like Mary wanted to take everything from Derek. She stored all his credit card information, social security number, Facebook password…" Dan continued, completely disregarding Ellen.

Jared looked at Ellen's annoyed expression, and then looked at Dan, who was still in the middle of talking at the most inappropriate time.

"Hey, would you mind giving us a minute? You can catch Peter up to speed on all this," Jared moved his eyes towards Ellen, facing Dan, hoping he would get the hint.

"Oooooh, I see. You two were about to bang, before I came in," Dan said. "I can take a hint, I will go _talk to Peter_," the investigator said, as he winked at his boss. He left the office, as Jared buried his face in his hands, and slowly turned around to face Ellen.

To his biggest surprise, she didn't seem embarrassed or pissed at all.

"How are you okay with what he just said?" asked Jared, still worried about her reaction.

"He was right. If he wouldn't have walked in, we'd be on the floor all naked and sweaty," Jared had to hold onto something, until he was able to process her words. He moved closer to her again, and figured he should go for it – there's nothing to lose. She's definitely giving him the signal. He started to lean in for a kiss…

"Wo, yeah, no, what are you doing?" she pushed him away.

"You just said…" he looked at her, even more confused.

"The moment has passed," she looked back at him. But something in her eyes said there is still a chance for this to happen, so he figured he should try again. This time however, he decided to go for a more cautious approach.

"Peter and I are having a party tonight, because… well because it's a Wednesday. I know you never actually been to any of our parties, and they are epic, so, as a colleague, I think you should come tonight," he caught her eye as she looked up from her monitor.

"As a colleague?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… you know. Everyone we worked with has been to at least one of our parties… Even Karp!" he said. He knew there was a 50 percent chance she'll say she'd rather die a painful, slow death in cage full of spiders and rats, than to spend a night with the two of them drunk, but he had to take this shot.

"What time?" she said looking back at her computer.

"Starts at 8." He looked at her, again, with disbelief. "There's free beer," he made a final attempt.

"I'll be there at 10," she said, still looking at her screen and typing.

As he looked at her and he could swear he saw a faint smile on her face. He was mesmerized by her.

"What are you still doing here?" she finally looked up.

He felt uncomfortable for a bit but managed to collect his thoughts. "Just making sure you're actually working and not using the firm's internet for_ personal _reasons," he shot her a grin, as he walked out of the office.

He was happy to find Peter in their office, when he got back.

"Dude, we're having a party tonight," he said.

"It's a Wednesday… What happened to our no hump-day party rule? You remember the Candi Schultz incident of 2010…" said Peter.

"I don't care, I have a chance with Ellen tonight. So we're doing this!" Jared said, pointing at Peter.

"What is it with you and Swatello?" said Peter slightly annoyed.

"Sorry buddy, I honestly couldn't tell you." Jared looked back. "All I know is, I have window tonight. So, are you in?"

"When have I ever not been in for a party?" said Peter in disbelief.


End file.
